Observatories

Observatory on Crisis and Alternatives: The Centre for Social Studies (CES), in collaboration with the International Institute for Labour Studies of the International Labour Organization (INST/ILO), decided to create the Observatory on Crisis and Alternatives aiming at monitoring the crisis(crises) development in its multiple dimensions and manifestations in Portugal, making its characterization and diagnosis more precise. The Observatory will endeavour to monitor policies, in terms of goals and the mobilized resources, and the expected or observable results, contributing to the identification of responses and broadening the range of alternatives in consideration in the public debate.

Observatory on Participation, Innovation and Local Government (PEOPLES'): PEOPLES' constitutes a place for meeting and exchanging ideas about topics related to the population's involvement in the development of public policies and in the territory projects, with innovations that mark the transformation of the levels of government closer to citizens. This observatory includes a large virtual video library of papers, theoretical and methodological reflections, critical essays, debates, images and sounds showing the plurality of the existing innovative practices in the world.

Observatory of Risk: Is an entity that proactively seeks to identify the social and economic contexts in which the risk acceptability spheres are established, concerned with the efficiency analysis of public and private mitigation strategies, and attentive to the emergence and consolidation of new players and groups.

Observatory on Religion in Public Space (POLICREDOS): Constituted in 2008 under the Compromisso com a Ciência Programme, aiming at conducting research on the (re)emergence of religion in Europe, from an interdisciplinary perspective, and at broadening out the discussion, from a comparative perspective, to the Mediterranean area, comparing practices and political and religious institutions.

Observatory for Education Policies and Professional Development: Resulting from a partnership between the Centre for Social Studies (CES) of the University of Coimbra and the Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Education and Development (CEIED) of the Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Op.Edu aims at conducting scientific research activities within the educational policies - namely, the conduction of research projects, development of research and dissemination networks, organization of events, establishment of partnerships, implementation of outreach and consulting activities and mobilization of institutional actors.